The anti-discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act don't apply to a Roommate.com, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month in Fair Housing Council v. Roommate.com, LLC.
Roommate.com operates a web site that helps roommates find each other. When users sign up they create a profile stating their sex, sexual orientation, and whether children will be living with them. Users may also complete an "Additional Comments" section. Users are asked to list their preferences for roommate characteristics, including sex, sexual orientation, and familial status. Based on the profiles and preferences the web site provides potential matches. The site also allows users to search based on roommate characteristics.
Plaintiff sued Roommate.com alleging that the questions about users' characteristics, and matching and steering based on those characteristics, violate the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of dwellings.
Judge Kozinski, writing for the Ninth Circuit, found no violation, based on the fact that roommates necessarily share a single "dwelling": "It makes practical sense to interpret 'dwelling' as an independent living unit and stop the FHA at the front door." According to the court, the selection of a roommate is more akin to a private relationship -- in which the government won't meddle -- than to a landlord-tenant relationship that's protected against discrimination.
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